# Journeyman - 11/26 - Blowback **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2007, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890 "2007-11-27T06:00:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/41 "2007-11-29T01:21:24Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] 1. “I gave it a shot - caught the first four episodes. That he always has to do the boy scout stuff and it always works out with saintly results is the kiss of death for me, when one negative task to “fix” history (i.e. kill a guy who’s just an ordinary guy, but would one day accidentally create a disaster) would’ve saved it. How did it end? After the perv’s traumatic childhood was fixed, did he grow up to work for Amnesty International or something?” One theory is that the premise is that some scientist(s), working in the future, have created time travel. Something goes awry that needs to be corrected. Maybe in the future they know what time threads came unravelled and are trying to correct those, so that the future becomes the future they had. Sort of undoing Homer stepping on the bug in the past. Of course you can argue you just go back and undo the original deed, but that makes for a short series. [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t mind that (and actually I’d kinda hoped that _Quantum Leap_ would have something like that, or maybe it did and I’d given up on it by then) but the fact that all the early episodes went out of their way to make the outcomes almost sickeningly noble. It’s not enough that the guy recovers from cancer - he has to recover and fly humanitarian missions. It’s not enough that the lawyer gets over his gambling problem - he has to become an addiction counselor. It’s not enough that J-Guy saves the life of some kid in the first episode - the kid grows up to be an inner-city doctor, or something. Let’s see him save the guy who grows up to join the Army and massacres a village full of Iraqis in the first Gulf War. It turns out one of the dead was going to kill a squad of Marines in the Iraq War. Something ugly and morally ambiguous. I’m a grown-up. I can take it. As it stood (at least, as far as I got) the missions were too obviously saintly and could’ve come straight from the writer’s bible for _Touched By an Angel_ or _Highway to Heaven_ or, most obviously, _Quantum Leap_. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/42 "2007-11-29T02:20:59Z")
I’ve been enjoying **Journeyman** , and really hope it doesn’t get cancelled. Earlier on in the season (it may have been when he passed the ‘counterfeit’ bill to the cabby) it crossed my mind that with him regularly getting into trouble that brought him to the attention of the San Francisco police, they were eventually going to piece together that the same guy was wanted for various ‘crimes’. It’s good to see the writers build up that kind of continuity over several episodes. As for the FBI agent, it was interesting to see that he’s been piecing together a timetraveller theory. It would be pretty odd for them to put that into the episode just to have him apparently killed off all of a sudden. I suspect that won’t really be the end of that story thread (assuming the show continues). [QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Even if he limited himself to metro Chicago (the show’s setting), wouldn’t demographers start to note the shocking drop in fatal accidents and murders? If he prevents one a day, he cuts the murder rate in Chicago by half. [/QUOTE] Actually, over the course of the run of **Early Edition** , the main character learned that there were previous recipients of the early paper, going back at least decades. So there wouldn’t be a sudden decline in deaths when he started getting the paper. There was an episode of the show where he crossed paths with a guy from (I think) New York, who was getting an early edition of a New York paper. That guy had a much better set up. Instead of keeping the info entirely to himself and refraining from making a profit from the newspaper, this guy used it to make enough money to live pretty well, as well as have a small group of employees to travel around saving people. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/43 "2007-11-29T04:27:18Z")
I think the show is already gone. They are replacing it this Monday with an extra new episode of Life besides the new episode of Life airing on Wednesday. Not much reason to do that unless you’re axing JM. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/44 "2007-11-29T04:48:36Z")
Damn it. I was just starting to watch it regularly again. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/45 "2007-11-29T05:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] I think the show is already gone. They are replacing it this Monday with an extra new episode of Life besides the new episode of Life airing on Wednesday. Not much reason to do that unless you’re axing JM. [/QUOTE] It’s going to be back the week after that. I think there are 2 more shows left (ep 11 & 12?), they’ll be airing the 11th ep in 2 weeks, but they haven’t found a slot yet for the 12th season finale. The jury’s still out yet… ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/46 "2007-11-29T12:21:03Z")
Some good news on AICN: [http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34919](http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34919) NBC will at least air episodes 10-12. The 12th episode will air December 19th. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/47 "2007-11-29T16:06:23Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] Some good news on AICN: [AICN EXCLUSIVE!! NBC To Air The Last Completed JOURNEYMAN Episode After All!!](http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34919) NBC will at least air episodes 10-12. The 12th episode will air December 19th. [/QUOTE] Just saw that article and rushed over here to post the same thing. A ray of hope after all. Who knew?! Looks like NBC truly loves the show, and rather not see it die… so we may get a full season (or beyond) after all (writer’s strike not withstanding). ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/48 "2007-12-02T01:12:16Z")
I just signed the petition at [SaveJourneyman.net](http://SaveJourneyman.net). I’m glad they wrapped up the episode the way they did. I thought Dan would rescue Young Aeden, everything would be sweetness and light, and he wouldn’t have been shot, lalalalalala. I thought Someone was giving Dan the chance to fix his mistake by rescuing Aeden and resetting everything. The way they did it was much better. Dan was able to appeal to Grown Aeden because of the interaction he’d had with him in the past, and resolve things that way. I like that Jack saw Livia. What I don’t get is that Livia travels to the future. So, she’s not trying to set right what once went wrong. Was she there to establish a relationship with Dan, so when he started traveling, she would be a familiar face to help him? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/49 "2007-12-02T04:17:26Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] What I don’t get is that Livia travels to the future. So, she’s not trying to set right what once went wrong. Was she there to establish a relationship with Dan, so when he started traveling, she would be a familiar face to help him? [/QUOTE] That’s interesting. I wouldn’t rule it out. In this episode, the characters alluded that maybe she was sent into the future so that Livia’s disappearance would bring Dan & Katie together. Or something? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/50 "2007-12-02T16:20:25Z")
She said if she hadn’t been with Dan, then died, then Katie wouldn’t have been there to console Dan. She thinks Dan and Katie were supposed to be together all along. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890/51 "2007-12-02T18:41:44Z")
I have two problems with this show: 1. Whoever is putting Dan through all is is seriously fucking up Dan’s life with no copensating benefits to show for it. That’s evil. It’s wrong to fuck up a dude’s life (and that of his family) just because you are maybe “doing good”. 2. The “love quadrangle” is weird and wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/journeyman-11-26-blowback/427890.md?page=2)